Be Mine
by Cindy Ryan
Summary: FlackStella. Valentine's day fluff


It's still valentine's day in the central time zone so I met my goal of having this up by midnight. :) I spent most of today moping about being single so I decided to write  
this bit of fluff for those of us still searching. :)

Title: Be mine  
Author: Cindy Ryan  
Pairings: Stella/Flack  
Spoilers: None. Timeline season five  
Summary: After a long day Stella receives a Valentine gift from Don

Stella Bonasera shivered as she pulled her dark blue coat tighter. It had stopped snowing by the time she reached her apartment building but the winds had really picked up. She tugged open the door and gratefully stepped inside brushing snow off her sleeves as she walked further inside and towards the stairs.

Stella fished her keys out of her purse as she climbed to the second floor.. She tried to stifle a yawn and failed as she reached her door.  
Valentine's day had seemed to bring out a lot more crazy people than normal. Stella hadn't left the lab until midnight and that was only after Mac put his foot down.

They'd had three crime scenes to process that day plus an old fashioned murder robbery.  
They'd been so busy that Stella hadn't talked to Don all day let alone seen him. She'd been working one of the valentine murders and he'd been across town with the robbery.

Now Stella smiled as she stared at her own front door. There taped just below the numbers was a single red rose.  
Next to the stem of the rose was an envelope with a card inside.

Stella recognized Don's familiar scrawl instantly as she plucked both items off the door. She put the key in the lock as she brought the flower to her nose inhaling the sweet scent. As Stella stepped inside she couldn't help but wonder when he had found time today to do this.

Stella didn't bother to take off her coat as she sat down on her sofa placing the rose gently on the coffee table. She reached over and flipped on the lamp before she returned her attention to the envelope.

As Stella started to open the envelope she heard something slide around inside. She smiled as she pulled the card out and turned the envelope upside down. A thin silver bracelet tumbled out into her outstretched hand.

Stella felt tears come to her eyes as she stared at the jewelry. Not many people had given her gifts in her life. To have someone go out of their way to give her something still amazed her.

As she looked over at the card Stella found it to be just like the gift.  
Simple and elegant.

The card was a light pink with a single medium sized red heart in the center. The inside was blank of any greeting card slogans…it contained a couple paragraphs from Don.

_'Beautiful,_

_Happy Valentine's day. Sorry I couldn't deliver this in person. Trust me when I say I wanted to do that more than anything._

_I almost held onto it….to give it to you another day so I could see your reaction. But with all the craziness we endured today I knew I had to give it to you whether I was there or not._

_I love you, Stel. I know I don't say it often enough. I don't know how I ended up being lucky enough to have you in my life but I'm grateful every day._

_I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have a couple hours that aren't work related….I missed you today._

_Hope you liked the gift._

_Love,_

_Don_

Stella sank back against the sofa the card resting against her chest. A smile played across her lips as she recalled the words he had written.

She was the lucky one….to have a wonderful man like him.  
To have him be her shelter when the job got to be too much.  
Or simply be able to snuggle with him on the sofa while watching a movie.

Stella shrugged out of her jacket and reached for her purse. She pulled her cell phone out and dialed a familiar speed dial.  
She knew he'd answer even with how late it was.

"Thank you."Stella said softly as soon as Don answered on the second ring. "I love my gift."

In his apartment Don smiled as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "I'm glad. I saw it and couldn't resist."

Stella settled back against the arm of the sofa. "The rose was beautiful too. Thank you. Are you home?"

Don nodded as he opened the box that contained the cold sandwich and chips he'd grabbed from an all night diner. "Yeah about a half an hour ago. How was your day?"

Stella sighed as she remembered the two crime scenes she'd been at. "Bad. You?"

Don grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and moved to his couch before depositing his late dinner on the coffee table.

"Not as bad as yours but ugly. I'm sorry I didn't have time to call."

Stella smiled. "I'm sorry too…..I meant to call you but every time I had a minute….well you know the lab."

Don took a bite as he nodded. "I know."

"So how did you have time to get to my place today?"

Don smiled. "Can't tell you all my secrets can I?"

Stella laughed relishing at how good it felt to do so. "As long as they're only good secrets."

"We still on for dinner?"

Stella felt her eyes drift closed. She knew she should move from the sofa.  
Or at the very least take her shoes off. She just didn't have the energy to do either.

"Yeah."Stella replied sleepily. "Even if it's just takeout in my office?"

"As long as I'm with you it doesn't matter."Don said quietly and he could hear the weariness in her voice. "Get some sleep, Stel."

Before exhaustion took over completely Stella whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too."Don acknowledged. "Sweet dreams, beautiful."

Stella's finger somehow found the disconnect button on her phone and she ended the call right before she drifted off to sleep.  
The phone came to rest on her stomach near her other hand that still clutched the card and the silver bracelet.

end


End file.
